A week ago I bought asus p5n-e sli MBO,along with e2160, xfx 7900gs, antec sonata III(with 500w Earth wats psu) and 2x 1gb Kingmax pc6400(800 Mhz) ram. I have reused my IDE Seagate 250gb and Pioneer 110 DVD-RW. Now the probems started when i tried to oc the cpu. The mbo wouldn't boot or post anything over 2.5 GHz on the procesor. I've unlinked the memory and the cpu, and i couldn' get anything higher. At stock whole comp is 100% stable(orthos,3dmark05,FEAR), but even when i oc to 2.4 GHz comp freezes randomly. I've read lots of reviews on te net(anandtech,legion,...) and all said the MBO and the cpu are easily oc to 3ghz,even at stock voltages, and I've raised cpu(1.4v),ram (2.01v) and the NB(1.393v),but it didn't solve my problem. I don't know if the problem is in the ram, psu (but i think that it should be sufficient) or is it the problem in the cpu or the mbo. My best guess is the ram,but it stays at 800 MHz,so it is ont overclocked.
BTW the bios is 0608.

Thank you for your reply, and sorry for such a long post.

Print this out. Highlight the o/c options. Write down the default settings. It's for 680i, but applies to 650i.

http://www.nvidia.com/docs/CP/4512 [...] ocking.pdf

Set voltages to auto in Voltage Control. In FSB & Memory Config, unlink cpu & ram, set QDR to 800-1800 & DDR to 800.

http://techgage.com/article/asus_p5n-e_sli/4

Set CPU multiplier to 9 & disable everything in CPU Configuration. Set ram timings to specs. Disable 1394 & unused SATAs in onboard device configuration. Disable cpu fan warning in Hardware Monitor.

http://techgage.com/article/asus_p5n-e_sli/5

Examples:
8 x 1200 (400) = 3.2ghz
9 x 1400 (350) = 3.15ghz
7 x 1800 (450) = 3.15

Note voltages in Hardware Monitor. Manually set them later on if you want.

Keep in mind there are FSB holes/walls/straps where you can't o/c stable. i.e. 400ish FSB for some cpus/mobos.

This is very informative:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messag [...] TMP=Linear

Thnx for the reply.

I will try what you wrote and report back.

No,that didnt help. I've tried setting the NB at 1.56V,cpu at 1.375V and memory at 5-5-5-18 at 1.912V, and it would boot up but it would freeze in 3dmark05 and in orthos(blend test). I've even tried memory at 5-5-5-24, and auto setings put it at 5-5-5-31! 2T of course. I think that i'ts my ram thats holding me back at 2.4GHz stable. Should i try with another ram?does anybody know something about GEIL Black Dragon pc6400?

You should try:

8 x 1600 (400) = 3.2ghz

so your ram will run at stock. I'd memtest the ram before o/cing to make sure the parts run at stock. If it doesn't, it may be faulty.

But when the cpu is at stock and o'c to 2.4GHz(1066MHz FSB) the system is stable as a rock!but when i o'c to 2.6GHz(1185MHz FSB) and higher is unstable,and frezzes! i have memtest,but i don't knowhow to run it!
I will try lowering the multiplier. Thanks for the reply.

Normally, you start at 333 FSB (1332) & work your way up until you can't go higher, then you either back down the FSB or up the voltages (cpu & nb).

If you think your ram is holding you back, you can try leaving ram near stock. i.e. 389, 399, 401, etc.

FWIW, another school of thought for overclocking 6x0i is to link & synch cpu & ram. You can try that & leave memory ratio at auto or sync mode.

Burn this as image on cd/dvd:

http://www.memtest.org/download/1. [...] 70.iso.zip

Boot it up. It does its things automatically. Any error may indicate wrong bios settings or faulty ram.

No luck.it still won't go past 1066 fsb. i've tried to lower the multiplier to 8x and 7x, but it won't post at 1333 fsb. i belivebelive that my cheap ram is holding me back,but i dont o'c the ram,so why is it stable at stock or at 2.4ghz, but it doesn't boot up at 2.66 or 3.0 ghz. i keep the ram at 800mhz, and i even tried at 667mhz, but didn't get any stability.
Next week i'll get super talent pc6400 cl4 (with heat spreaders) dual channel kit,and try to o'c with that memory instead my kingston pc6400 1gb ,dual channel.
If anyone has another idea,i'm open to all advices.

Yesterday my 2x 1GB Super talent PC6400 4-4-3-8 ram arrived,so I tried to oc,bu it wouldn't post.
The memory timings were set on auto,and during post their values were 5-5-5-31??! What's up with that?
I will clear the CMOS today and see what happens.

But if I have the same problems than it is definitely not the ram,because this ram oc like crazy(couldn't post the link because Super Talents' site is down).

Any suggestions?

Use link & sync. I could guarantee a decent 3.0ghz o/c if I had physical access to the pc. You have to read the PDF above.

Just set up ram timings & voltage to specs in bios. Give it a bit more juice. Up to 2.3v.

Thanks. I will try that.

This is my new ram,because I thought my ram was holding me back im my oc.

http://www.supertalent.com/datashe [...] 20spec.pdf
What do you think about this memory?

Also I've noticedthat my AC Freezer Pro7 doesn't sit all the way,because of the NB heatsink.altough my temps are never above 40oC(during load).
Could this be the cause of my unsuccessful overclocking?

Set ram in bios to:

4-4-3-8@2.2V

If no luck, then:

5-5-5-15

Instead of me guessing what's in your bios, how about your post your bios settings?

40'c load is low. About right for Freezer & e2160.

All voltages @ auto. PCIE@100MHz.FSB@1067 unlinked with memory@800MHz. C1E,EIST and thermal throttling enabled. Memory latencies set manualy @ 4-4-4-12 2T,all other mem options @ auto.

I've tried upping the FSB to 1333MHz,mem 800MHz 5-5-5-15 2T, Vcore 1.375, NB volt 1.393. It started posting but didn't complete.

Any advice to getting my e2160 to 3.0GHz(FSB 1333) stably would be much appreciated.

You have to disable all except exe. dis. bit.

http://techgage.com/viewimg.php?im [...] SLI%20BIOS